Sentencing today for inmate assault of guard at prison

BY TAYLOR DUNGJEN BLADE STAFF WRITER

Editor's note: Erroneous information provided to and then reported in The Blade linked a different jail inmate to the assault. (See box below)

In the three months Marquise Perry has been locked up in the Lucas County jail, he is believed to have assaulted at least two people and smeared feces around the food-tray slot of another inmate’s cell door, according to sheriff’s reports.

Perry, 28, will be sentenced today for assaulting a guard at the Toledo Correctional Institution on Nov. 23, while Perry was serving a 22-year sentence for multiple charges that include attempted murder and involuntary manslaughter.

Perry faces up to eight more years in prison for the Toledo Correctional assault in which he punched a female corrections officer while passing her on a stairwell.

The guard was knocked unconscious and suffered a concussion.

CORRECTION: An inmate at the Lucas County jail was arraigned today in Toledo Municipal Court for allegedly punching a corrections officer.

Charged with assault is Guy Cheers, 33, of Youngstown, whose bond was set at $50,000.

The charges against Mr. Cheers were filed Wednesday afternoon for the assault Feb. 28 inside the jail.

Punched multiple times was Corrections Officer Joshua Rayburn, according to court documents. The officer needed three stitches for a cut to the inside of his mouth, the complaint states.

Erroneous information provided to and then reported in The Blade linked a different jail inmate to the assault.

After Perry is sentenced today, he will go back to a state prison. It is not clear to which facility he will be sent.

The apparent outburst on Saturday is the most recent instance of violence linked to Perry, who is kept in 23-hour isolation at the jail.

On Feb. 25, during his mandated one-hour recreation time, Perry kicked the door to inmate Richard Penque’s cell, popping it open, and then assaulted Penque, who is also accused of assaulting a guard at Toledo Correctional.

Sheriff Tharp said a corrections officer noticed Perry hitting Penque and broke up the fight. It’s not clear what prompted the outburst, but the two acted in cahoots when they were first moved from the North Toledo prison to the downtown correctional facility.

Charges have not been filed in the February assault, either.

“When they first got here, they were basically partners in assisting each other in being intimidating to inmates and disrespectful to staff,” Sheriff Tharp said. “We can handle it. That’s what we do, and we will continue to do that.”

Penque was moved from isolation to a medical unit after the assault, according to a report.

Sheriff Tharp said there is a work order in to have the cell door fixed so it cannot be forced open again.

Whatever camaraderie Penque and Perry had at Toledo Correctional appears to have faded.

Two months before the Feb. 25 assault, Penque told officers there would be “a problem in the tank” if one of the two wasn’t moved out of a sixth-floor “tank.”

That same day, Perry put himself on a hunger strike, according to a report from a shift command officer at the jail.

On Jan. 11, Perry is believed to have punched inmate Eric Richardson numerous times, according to a complaint filed in Toledo Municipal Court.

For that, Perry was charged with assault. The case was ultimately dismissed.

More trouble for Perry was logged Jan. 31 when he is believed to have threatened to assault another corrections officer, as stated in a report.

A Feb. 18 report states that Penque accused Perry of smearing feces on the door to Penque’s cell and specifically around and through the food-tray slot.

Perry also was accused of dumping “water or urine” into Penque’s cell.

“This is a corrections facility, and we are required to make sure … inmates are safe and employees are safe,” Sheriff Tharp said.

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